Manor Sturm Moves On, Early Candidates to Take Over Ontario Reign

[LGKbot]

What felt like the longest head coach search in recent memory has finally come to a close. Earlier today, the Boston Bruins announced Marco Sturm as their 30th head coach in franchise history.

During his 938 NHL game career, the 46-year-old German native played five NHL seasons in Beantown and was a fan favorite. After beginning his North American coaching career with the Kings, Sturm eventually took over behind the bench with AHL Ontario prior to the 2022-23 season. During his three seasons as bench boss for the Reign, he accumulated a 119-80-17 record.

After being eliminated by Bakersfield in this year’s Calder Cup playoffs, these were some of Sturm’s final comments:

Here was Marco Sturm’s final message to Reign fans and the city of Ontario after their season ending loss on April 26th.

Mentions how excited he and the team is to go back to Toyota Arena and play in front of the fans in Ontario next year.

He is now a Boston Bruin. #NHLBruins… pic.twitter.com/dQDQMH6JSr

— Anthony Collazo (@anthonycollazo_) June 5, 2025

Of course, he provided a more in-depth interview on Kings Of The Podcast a few weeks ago — where he opened up about interviewing for the Sharks job last summer and what he learned through that process that may have helped him interview better when meeting with the Bruins this time around. That interview can be found here:

Kings Of The Podcast, Ep. 230 – LA Prospect Review with Marco Sturm

As for what’s next in Ontario, the news of Sturm’s departure is still fresh, so things will now turn to finding his replacement. Rich Seeley serves as the Reign GM; yet he’ll likely lean into new Kings GM Ken Holland for some advice on the overall direction of the organization before proceeding. The latter is tied up at the NHL Scouting Combine this week; thus, we wouldn’t expect any breaking news over the next 48 hours.

A good place to start might be a pair of recent tweets by Mayor’s Manor founder John Hoven:

Following up that last RT

With Marco Sturm likely/potentially moving on to Boston, here's an early name to track:

Chris Hajt should get a hard look as AHL Ontario head coach (assuming MS doesn't steal him).

Wrote about Hajt previously here:Seven Candidates for Kings Open Assistant Coach Spot#GoKingsGo

— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) May 28, 2025

When the coaching carousel stops spinning — if he still doesn't have an NHL job — wouldn't be surprised to see Jay Woodcroft as the head coach in AHL Ontario.

— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) May 28, 2025

The commentary referenced on Chris Hajt in the linked article was:

If there is anybody on this list who probably ‘deserves’ the spot, it’s Hajt. He’s been a longtime assistant in the organization, serving under Mike Stothers and Sturm in AHL Ontario. He also co-coached the Reign a few years ago when John Wroblewski suddenly departed the team midseason. Hajt’s work with the club was phenomenal that year, both during games and practices. He also spent two seasons in the NHL as an assistant for the Buffalo Sabres, so he knows the grind. He’s a good company man who should be considered based upon his credentials and body of work thus far.

Many of the Reign young defensemen often praise Hajt for his role in helping shape their development on and off the ice, as noted in this video from a few months ago:


As for Woodcroft, he has strong ties to Holland during his time with the Oilers organization. The former first served as their AHL coach in Bakersfield — including winning a Calder Cup Championship in 2021 — before ultimately being called up to coach in Edmonton, where he guided the NHL club to a 79-41-13 record.

Additional candidates are likely to emerge in the days and weeks ahead.

MORE LA KINGS NEWS:

Kings Of The Podcast: Ep. 170 with Reign GM Rich Seeley

Follow @mayorNHL





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